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Central umpire Pascal Maria was the highlight of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park when he charged Rafael Nadal with a time violation in the semi against Grigor Dimitrov.
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Nadal’s petulant reaction was in keeping with his attitude of ‘how dare you charge me, I’m Rafael Nadal.’
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But nobody should have been surprised with the violation and that should have included Nadal.
He has been a serial offender throughout his career with his illegal way of slowing down play endorsed by central umpires who turned a blind eye.
What’s the point of having a rule if it isn’t policed?
And why didn’t Maria repeatedly charge Nadal who violates every serving point?
The server must deliver within 20 seconds of the completion of the previous point.
Nadal never does.
By the time he deliberately towels himself, selects two balls from four or five, picks his pants out of his backside, taps both of his shoulders, both ears, the top of his head, then his nose and mouth, the 20 seconds are long gone.
There is still the bouncing of the ball off his racquet, and more bounces by hand before Nadal settles in to serve, staring off his opponent in the process.
In the meantime, Nadal’s opponent is bent forward waiting to receive – waiting, waiting, waiting for between 30 and 40 seconds.
It’s Nadal’s way of trying to make his opponent die of boredom.
I don’t know who the central umpire will be tonight in the decider against one of the all-time gentlemen of the court, Roger Federer.
But for the integrity of the final, the central umpire must crack down on Nadal’s cheating.
Three violations would see Nadal wiped out of the tournament which would create an uproar in the capacity house.
But it would be poetic justice that at last Nadal’s illegal game plan has been busted.
There’s no argument Nadal is one of the greatest players to ever wield the racquet but if he has to cheat, why compete?
I am waiting for the day an opponent constantly calls out: “Whenever you’re ready Rafa” to publicly alert the central umpire to Nadal’s illegal tactics.
The only trouble with that ploy is to have a central umpire with the courage to charge Nadal who has the vast majority of central umpires totally bluffed.
But there will be a day when Nadal is pinged out of the tournament and I just hope I am watching.